I'm joining weight watchers tomorrow...there are two big reasons that weight watchers works.  The first is that they make it easy to keep track.

The second reason is accountability.

I believe that (as people), we don't like to have accountability - that's pride.  When we get to the point where we recognize that we need accountability, that's when we make progress.

It can be the same way in some areas of our walk with God.

I have some problem areas - it's when I recognize them and have accountability that I make progress.

There is a danger, though.

Doing right does not equal being right.  It's progress; a step.  But doing right, instead of making the heart change, only leads to morality, not righteousness. Following the right rules does not bring us closer to God.  Coming closer to God brings us closer to following the right rules.

At the beginning of the year I posted a whole year's worth of Bible reading (and I'm not reading the September readings).  I went into the year saying that I'm going to read the whole Bible - but it might take me more than a year.  I was going to read where God led (and I've been a few growth-prompting places) and in between these times I was going to read the structured readings.  And I have done that.  I have found that even the accountability that having it posted on my blog brings (as well as the piece of paper in my Bible) helps.

(Going back to the weight loss - when I write down what I eat, even that makes me think about what I'm doing.  Having a structured plan (and weigh in with accountability) keeps me writing.)

There is a "situation" at work...

I know that one of the areas that I can get sucked into (if I'm not careful) is gossip.  And it came up today.  I'm only at this school for another week and I don't want to get tripped up.  (relating to food...who hasn't gotten tripped up?)

I am determined to be open with accountability in order to keep my nose out of the gossip mill.

I think that everybody has an area (or areas) where they can use accountability...a lot of us don't like it.  But coming to the point of recognizing that we need it is the first step.

My pastor used the "Truman Show" as an illustration for his sermon Sunday morning. It was a good sermon, but I didn't really get the connection between the text and the illustration...

But there are other connections that I've been pondering.

In the movie, Truman Burbank is born and raised in an environment that isn't real - he lives on the set of a television show and doesn't know it.  Everything and everybody that surrounds him is there to convince him that his life is real.

It can be that way in our walk with God.  Nearly everybody who grows up in a church grows up believing that their church is the right church.  When you read literature and Bible studies, there is always a "slant" - preconceptions that color our views.

It isn't until Truman is an adult that he starts noticing that there are things that just don't fit.

This may also be true for our walk with God.  For some of us, it's the challenge by a friend to study - to be a Berean; compare what we believe against Scripture.  For others, it's seriously digging into the Bible for first time.  For still others, it's the process of coming to the understanding that there are other (valid) Christian beliefs out there.  For most of us, it's a combination.

When Truman "understands" that there is something wrong with his world, he goes exploring.  The "powers that be" don't like it much.  They try to stop him.

If you have been in a Christian "belief system" for your entire life, and if you are surrounded by friends and family that are part of that same belief system, expect them to not like it much.

Truman came to his "moment of truth" - he overcame a major fear in order to cross a lake to find out what was "out there".

It may mean leaving the church you grew up in, it may mean "sharpening iron" with friends and family.  It may be difficult, or maybe not.

There came a time when Truman was standing at the edge of the dome that was his home for his entire life.  He knew there was "truth" out there, but he didn't know what it would look like.

Again, this may be part of our walk with God - we don't know where this walk will take us, only that God is leading.

His hand was on the doorknob...would he step out "in faith", looking for truth?  Or would he return to the safety and comfort of all he had every known, knowing that some things were out of place?

You know that there are "holes" in the theology that you grew up with.  You stand half in and half out, undecided.

Do you stay in safety and comfort?

Or do you step out in faith, looking for truth?

.

Another fly catcher

I got sidetracked on a song meme...I was googling for lyrics and ran across this:

For the record:  This is NOT my theme song.

Twenty Naked Pentacostals in a Pontiac
Author: Chris Stuart, 1994
Album: Lonesome Town
Artist: Cornerstone
1995 Folk Era Productions

I was thumbin' my way down to Baton Rouge,
Standin' on the side of the road,
When a car pulled over and a voice cried out,
"We'll take you where you want to go."
I jumped inside, but to my surprise,
They were naked as a poor man's toes.
It was a tight situation when the whole congregation
Said the devil was in my clothes.

   Twenty naked Pentacostals in a Pontiac,
Brothers and sisters shoutin' in the back,
Elders in the front, choir in the trunk,
Twenty naked Pentacostals in a Pontiac.

The sermon that morning was on Adam and Eve
And the ways of the dreadful snake,
Everybody was clappin' when the preacher pointed at me,
My body began to shake.
I threw off my shirt, and my shoes and my socks,
My jeans and my BVDs.
We were all in the nude, shoutin' "halleloo!"
And singing "Sombody Touched Me."

   CHORUS

We had the cruise control set to fifty-five,
When a Smokey got on our tail,
He pulled up beside, his eyes got wide,
And the siren began to wail.
We ran off the road toward the tree of life,
Lord, the future was looking bleak,
We hung on and prayed, everybody was saved,
'Cause we all knew how to turn the other cheek.

   CHORUS

In a couple of months (well, 99 days, according to the counter on her blog), my youngest turns 18. We've "rushed" things a bit, she dropped out of public school in order to "homeschool" - which means she's taking college classes as a "senior" in high school.

My dearest friend tells me that I'm going to be the empty-nester to end all empty nesters. Yeah. I miss my son and he still lives here! Our schedules are not meshing very well and I just don't get to see him much.

But, there is a beauty in growing up - I may soon be coming to the end of my role as a parent to these two young people and they're my report card as a parent.

My kids are growing up. They both go to college and they both have jobs.

Tom laughs at me laughing at him. We had some really rough years; Tom figuring out how to be a man without a man in his life was hard. But he's becoming grown to be a man and my prayer is that he'll find the right young woman and be the right man and Godly leader.

He seldom goes to church with me on Sunday mornings; his job keeps him up very late at night and he's very (VERY) faithful about meeting with his college group on Tuesday evenings. I think that next semester he'll be able to back off on hours at work and be more regular at church. But I like that he's faithful about the Christian group that he has committed to.
And then there's Manda...also looking for a way to be "Manda". She wants to be a youth leader...or maybe work with animals...or maybe...

Amanda is "interesting"...and my prayer for her is that she find a Godly leader who will take care of her and who will let her take care of him.

I guess the best way to describe it is that I like my kids. Not just "love" them (although I do love them beyond words). I really like them.

There is a beauty to seeing them grow up, even if it means the ending of my "nest".

The first "order of business" - for the first time in quite a while, I sat in a choir.  It's been a long time since I've done any sight-reading and I think I need to sandwich myself in between a couple of altos (and not next to a soprano).

(this is the second one of these devotionals that I've posted, if you'd like to get these in your inbox, there's a link at the bottom)

Author: Woodrow Kroll
Joshua 24:13

"I [God] have given you a land for which you did
not labor, and cities which you did not build,
and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards
and olive groves which you did not plant."

Not for Sale

During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton,
the founder of the Red Cross, was working in
Cuba. One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to
her and offered to buy food for some of his sick
and wounded Rough Riders. But she refused to sell
him what he wanted. Roosevelt could not
understand. He cared about his men, and he was
willing to pay for the supplies out of his own
funds. So he went to the surgeon in charge, who
said to him, "Colonel, just ask for it!" A smile
broke over Roosevelt's face. Now he
understood--the provisions were not for sale. "I
will ask for it," he said, and when he did, he
got the food at once.

Joshua reminded the people that all they
possessed--their land, their cities and their
vineyards--were not the result of their own
efforts. Certainly they had confronted the enemy.
Obviously they had engaged in many dangerous and
bloody battles. But those victories were not the
ultimate source of their possessions. Instead,
all that they owned was a gift from God.

God is not in the retail business. All of our
good deeds, our generous gifts, our religious
activities could not begin to buy our salvation.
But God is willing to give it to us. When we
receive Christ as our Savior, all that God has is
ours for the asking.

Enjoy God's gracious gifts today. Thank Him for
providing them without price and without cost.
They are yours not because you buy them, but
because God gives them.

God's gifts are free, but they are not cheap.
____________________________________________________________

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Since I spent last weekend on the farm I grew up on, my "food" hunt (except for one photo) shows food a little earlier in the consumption process...

and last (but not least), when my brother cooks...

...continue reading →

I start in a new position on September 25 (the start of a pay period).  Same school district, same pay scale, different "title".

I will be an "employment training specialist" - and it's just like it sounds.  I'll be working with impaired people, helping prepare them for jobs.  The age range is upper high school age up to age 26, although I've been told that I'll be working with mostly 16-21 year olds.

I've done something very similar to this before and I really enjoyed it.  The new school is "off campus" (the main building shares a parking lot with the school I'm currently at, but the new job site is away from campus and closer to bus lines, jobs and recreation opportunities.

The new job site is also four or five minutes away from my house.

I'm really torn because I love the placement I'm currently at...but I think I'll love the new one even more.

😉

Uh...my son went to his class Wednesday afternoon.  My daughter went to her class Wednesday afternoon.

It's the same class.

😉

Then there's Manda's art class.  She loves to draw, but has always had this narrow little set of things that she likes to draw and hasn't broadened her horizons.  Until she signed up for this drawing class.  They focus a lot on techniques and the professor said that most of the students come into the class with years of high school art behind them and that she recommended that Manda take the class as an "audit" (not for a grade), rather than miss deadlines and fall behind.

I'd like her to be challenged, but not to the point where she gets frustrated with something she loves.  We talked about it and came up with this:  she doesn't have to declare for an audit class until October 2 - at that point she'll talk to the professor again and see how she's doing.  If she's "average", she'll go for the grade, but if the professor still thinks she'd be better off auditing, we'll go for that.

I interviewed for a new job yesterday (and it looks pretty good).  Same school system, same pay scale.  Higher and older students (post-high school) doing job and life skills training.  I would start 15 minutes earlier every day (and end 15 minutes earlier every day.)  This would be helpful, because I discovered Tuesday that half an hour between work and school leaves me a little stressed.

And then there's my classes.  It's either "challenging" or "suicidal".
I'm going to have to be a lot more organized at home than I am - I'm going to try to pack my lunches for the week on Sunday afternoon (except for meat, which can go in the freezer).  Atkins days work best for me, so every lunch will look like this:

• bluebunny carb freedom yogurt
• 1 serving fruit
• vegetable salad
• single serving salad dressing
• 2 string cheese
• 1 packet of crystal light (for bottled water)
• 1 plastic spoon, 1 plastic fork
• meat (tuna or salmon pouches OR deli meat in single portions in the fridge

I can keep a case of soda and water at work so I don't have to remember those every day.

I'm going to try the same thing with clothes - pick up 5 dish tubs and get all my outfits together before the week starts and stack them in the closet.
Anything that cuts down on morning stress is a good thing.

(yes, I'm rambling again; I think I'm putting off biology...)